So sorry for the wonky service so far - but nice to hear they are replacing the TV sets. I was on Sapphire just about a year ago and our service was excellent the entire time - no complaints at all.

Here is the problem (and I often try to impart this information to cruisers having problems).

Having worked on a cruise ship I do know this much - no single job on the ship other than head of guest services or the hotel manager knows ANYTHING about anything else happening on the ship outside of his own department.

Now, I am not trying to transfer blame to the nice lady with the coffee card. I am just saying it is basically a waste of time to ask a waiter to fix your free coffee mug problem.

That waiter lives downstairs and only comes to the passenger decks to serve people in the dining rooms (and lido, natch). He has never been to a bar on the ship the entire time he has been onboard, it isn't his job. Nor does he know anything about the coffee mug program other than what he was told to tell you guys in the dining room that night.

The waiter tried to help, he went out of his way to try to find a suitable replacement gift. And in the end he got over-ruled and embarassed for it. That is "bad service" by the cruise ship, yes, but you can't expect personalized service like you would get on Seabourn on a ship like that.

The lady should take her coffee card to a bar and request a mug. If that does not work, go to guest services and tell them. You need access to problem solvers to fix problems on cruise ships, and basically a waiter is not in any position to go outside of his own realm to fix anything.